This invention relates in general to valves for pressurized dispensing containers and more particularly to a valve whose design makes it particularly useful for containers in which a dip tube is employed. The dip tube provides a passageway between the pressurized product to be dispensed and the dispensing valve.
Applicant's U.S. Pat. No. 5,785,301 and No. 6,425,503 and No. 6,340,103 are representative of prior art valve designs for use in hand held pressurized containers.
Pressurized containers for dispensing product can be categorized into a first type that employs a barrier between the product and the pressurized gas and another type in which the pressurized gas and the product are mixed. The latter type typically employs a dip tube that extends from the dispensing valve to the bottom of the container in which the product and pressurized gas is mixed. This dip tube arrangement is normally employed where product being dispensed is a mist or a spray. However, a dip tube can also be used where the product being dispensed is a highly flowable product such as a shave gel.
The valve assemblies employed in these dip tube type of designs normally have five components. These five components are a mounting cup, a movable valve element that moves between an open and closed position, a first resilient sealing element to seal the valve to the dip tube, a second resilient sealing element to seal the valve stem openings when in the closed state and a spring to return the valve to its closed state once finger or hand pressure is removed from the actuator.
Maintaining the cost of these valve assemblies at a minimum its an important factor in keeping the cost of the end product reasonable and accessible to the public.
Part of the cost of these valve assemblies is in the number of components that constitute the valve assembly (five components in the typical known art) and part of the cost is in the difficulty or ease in assembling the various components that make up the valve assembly.
Accordingly, it is a major purpose of this invention to provide a valve assembly which is less expensive by reducing the number of components and reducing the cost to assemble.
It is another purpose of this invention to provide a dispensing valve that can be optimally adapted for use with a container in which a dip tube is used.
A further purpose of this invention is to provide a valve adapted to be used in a vertical fashion; that is, used by axial movement of the valve element.